Bernard Coard

Bernard Coard (10 August 1945-) was the Prime Minister of Grenada from 14 to 19 October 1983, succeeding Maurice Bishop and preceding Hudson Austin. He was the leader of the coup d'etat against Bishop, with Austin using the military against Bishop. Coard's government was dissolved when Austin took power for himself on 19 October.

Biography
Bernard Coard was born in Victoria, Grenada, on 10 August 1945. He met Maurice Bishop in secondary school, and the two developed left-wing ideas. Coard studied in the United States, where he joined the CPUSA; when he moved to the United Kingdom in 1967, he joined the British Communist Party. In 1976 he returned to Grenada, where he joined the New Jewel Movement. On 13 March 1979 the NJM peacefully overthrew Prime Minister Eric Gairy (who was the first leader of Grenada since independence in 1974), and Bishop became the first leader of the new People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada.

Later, cracks occurred in the NJM. Supporters of Coard wanted Bishop to share power with him, but Bishop's faction refused. On 19 October 1983 Coard put Bishop under house arrest, and after demonstrations demanded Bishop's release, Bishop and seven others (including bureaucrats) were executed by the military under Hudson Austin. After Bishop's death, Austin seized power for himself and ordered for a curfew; anyone outside of their homes would be shot. On 25 October, the United States launched Operation Urgent Fury against the PRG, and Austin and Coard were captured. They were sentenced to death in 1986, but their sentences were later commuted to life imprisonment. In September 2004, although Hurricane Ivan damaged the prison in which he stayed, he decided not to escape with several other inmates; he said that he would not leave until his name was cleared.